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Monday, February 13, 2012

ACLU Offers Help for Students and Teachers

Parents of middle school and high school students should be aware of the resources offered by the ACLU-Washington to help protect youth.

They have a great downloadable guide, "Student Rights and Responsibilities in the Digital Age; A Guide for Public School Students in Washington State" with info on:

technology and free speech including using the internet at school and off-campus

recording people at school including other people's privacy and school surveillance cameras

searches at school

what to do if you believe your school has violated your rights

They are also having their annual Student Conference on Civil Liberties on April 14th from 9 am to

1:00 pm at The Vera Project at Seattle Center.

They also have resources for teachers including classroom speakers, free publications and a printable PDF of the Bill of Rights.

They have an online order form for free publications including "bust cards"- wallet-sized "what to do if you are stopped by police" cards.

I urge parents to either sit down with your student and explain what to do if stopped by a police officer and/or get one of these cards for him/her.

I know what you're thinking; not my kid. I will tell you what I told my own children; things happen.

You can be out with your friends and doing nothing wrong but somehow you and your friends manage to be in the same place where a crime occurred and the police want to talk with your group.

Or your child can have one dopey friend who DOES do something wrong and the police want to talk with the whole group.

Things happen and police officers can be intimating and scary. Better your child knows his or her rights and what to do than for you to get a phone call and your child says, "I didn't know what to do."

9 comments:

Anonymous
said...

To add on to this attempt by the ACLU to educate students of their rights and to know how to exercise those rights, it's also important to be ever vigilant of our abilities to hang on to those rights. Be vigilant of groups that are writing our state and federal laws to suit their politics and personal agenda. Be vigilant when our votes and citizenship are rendered less meaningful as our votes and voices are sidelined by these powerful interests who have access to our lawmakers with their money and means . Groups like ALEC are able to lobby and get state lawmakers to pass bills into laws. These laws cover voting rights, firearms, environment, collective bargaining, corporate liability, land use, education, and healthcare. These laws afffect all of us as citizens at every level.

Isn't ALEC behind some of the push for Feds to get detailed student records "for life"? Like from the time they enter Kingergarten until college? I did a quick search right now, and didn't find a reference, but I seem to remember them having their fingers in this as well.

Thank you Melissa for posting this, as all parents at one time or another might need to access this resource.

Besides the links you provided,the ACLU of WA www.aclu-wa.orghas other extensive brochures for students & parents in WA schools.

The 30+ page "Know your Rights" (different than the Digital Rights guide) is well worth reading, and should be used as a resource this spring when the Phase II policies are being reviewed, including the new student rights policies being introduced to SPS for the first time (remember the student newspaper fiasco earlier this year?).

Education Acroynms

Advanced Learning - SPS' three-tier program for advanced learners. Made up of APP, Spectrum and ALOs. (Note: the name of the district program is "Advanced Learning Services and Programs" but these three programs fall under "Highly Capable Services" of AL Services and Programs.

ALO - Advanced Learning Opportunity, the third tier of SPS' Advanced Learning program

AP - Advanced Placement. A national program of college-level classes given in high schools.

APP - Accelerated Progress Program. One of the levels of the Advanced Learning Program. NOTE: the name of this program is now "HIGHLY CAPABLE COHORT." This change occurred in 2014.

ASB - Associated Student Body. High school leadership groups.

AYP - Adequate Yearly Progress. Part of NCLB.

BEX - Building Excellence. SPS' capital renovation/rebuilding program that is funded via the BEX levy. Every 3 years there is the Operations levy and either the BEX or BTA levies as those two levies rotate in six year cycles).

BLT - Building Leadership Team. Staff members at a school who meet regularly to discuss building issues.

BTA - Buildings, Technology, Academics. The major maintenance/other capital fund for SPS. Originally BTA was to cover major maintenance like HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning), roofs, waterlines, etc.) but now covers wide swaths of items like athletic fields, technology and funding academic needs.

CAICEE - Community Advisory Committee for Investing in Educational Excellence. Created by former Superintendent Manhas in 2008, to issue a report about reform recommendations for SPS.

CSIP - Continuous School Improvement Plan, the plan for improvement for each school as required by state law.

EOC - End of Course Assessments, given in math and science, required for high school graduationESEA - Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the federal law that governs education, includes the NCLB accountability provisions.

e-STEM or e-STEAM - STEM or STEAM curriculum with an environmental focus.

FACMAC - Facilities and Capacity Management Advisory Committee. A district committee comprises of an all-volunteer citizen group created in 2012 to help bring research and ideas to capacity management issues in the district.

FERPA - Family Education Rights and Privacy Act. A federal law that protects students' privacy

FRL - Free and reduced lunch.

FTE - Full Time Equivalent

FY - Fiscal Year

Highly Capable Services - NEW name (as of 2014) as umbrella name for these programs: Highly Capable Cohort (formerly APP), Spectrum and ALO (Advanced Learning Opportunities).

HSPE - High School Proficiency Exam, state assessment that replaced the WASL for 10th graders, required for graduation

HQT - Highly Qualified Teacher, a standard set by federal law

IA - Instructional Assistant

IB - International Baccalaureate program. An international program of advanced classes that can either be taken as stand alone or as part of an overall IB program.

IDEA - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The federal law that governs special education

MAP - Measures of Academic Progress. A computer-based adaptive assessment made by NWEA and originally purchased by the district for use as a district-wide formative assessment but now used for a wide variety of purposes.

MSP - Measurement of Student Progress, the state proficiency assessment that replaced the WASL for students in grades 1-8

MTSS - Multi-Tiered Systems of Support

NCLB - No Child Left Behind, a provision of the federal education law, ESEA, introduced during the George W. Bush administration